Good morning, and welcome to another Monday.

There are two weeks to go before the Legislature must adjourn, and a wide chasm to bridge between competing ideas for the remainder of the budget surplus.MPR’s Brian Bakst reports without a broad framework to guide them to the finale, it’s difficult to gauge whether the Republican-led Senate, DFL-led House and DFL Gov. Tim Walz will avert a collapse on the session’s biggest items – public safety, school aid, long-term care relief and tax cuts high on that list. They are hoping to build off earlier agreements around an insurance market shock absorber, a fix to the unemployment system and a bonus program for pandemic frontline workers. Late last week, a couple notable breakthrough bills passed by wide margins. One dictates how $300 million from a settlement with opioid manufacturers can be spent and the other bolsters programs for military veterans. That $65 million veterans bill was peeled away from other discussions around use of the $9.25 billion surplus lawmakers had at their disposal this year. It directs money to complete and outfit three new veterans nursing homes in greater Minnesota, steps up support programs for veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness and rewards those who served in post-September 11th military conflicts.

When Erin Maye Quade had to leave a recent endorsing convention because she was in labor, it highlighted the challenges mothers face in politics.MPR’s Sam Stroozas reports women from both parties are experiencing those challenges: When state Sen. Julia Coleman’s 2-year-old son fell ill recently during the legislative session, she found herself in a bind over workplace rules. She could bring him to the Capitol, but not into the chamber. Senate rules prohibit visitors from being on the floor during a session, even a senator’s kid. Had she been a representative in the Minnesota House, Coleman’s experience would have been very different. One chamber over, the Waconia Republican could have kept her son with her on the floor. Instead, she had to run back and forth between Senate sessions to check on him in another room.  Coleman has three young sons, including twins who were born prematurely at the end of last session. She's been open on social media about her experiences as a new mother and the need for change in the Senate, where her party is in control. She and other women, though, say the issue’s bigger than a single Senate rule. While women are a rising force in Minnesota politics and governing, the written and unwritten rules of political life haven’t kept pace. Despite gains, Coleman and other women say they must still navigate ways of doing business put in place when men dominated politics but that don’t work now and may be keeping more women from seeking office. “It is not a Republican or a Democrat issue. It depends on whether or not you think having kids on the floor would take away from the prestige and honor of the Senate,” Coleman said. “Everything in this job is a sacrifice I am happy to make, I understand that, but there are little things we can do to make it easier for mothers.”

A trial is scheduled to begin today in Minneapolis for a man accused of lying to a federal grand jury about absentee ballots in a 2020 state senate primary election.   MPR’s Matt Sepic reports federal prosecutors charged Muse Mohamud Mohamed with two counts of making false statements to a grand jury.  Authorities say Mohamed hand delivered three absentee ballots to the election office on behalf of three voters during the August 2020 primary. What’s called agent delivery is legal in Minnesota for up to three ballots if the voters are incapacitated and can't make it to a polling place after it's too late to vote by mail, but the agent must be known to the voters. Prosecutors say the three voters for whom Mohamed allegedly delivered ballots did not know him and did not ask him to deliver their ballots.  The government says Mohamed falsely told the grand jury that he received the ballots from the three voters, even after the voters stated that they did not request agent delivery.

Republicans hope to endorse a candidate for governor at their state convention in Rochester on Saturday. The Star Tribune had a Sunday profile of candidate Rich Stanek, who’s campaigning on his experience as a former Minneapolis police officer and Hennepin County sheriff: "Every group I talk to, I start out by asking them how many of you have brothers, sisters, moms, dads, sons, daughters, nieces or nephews that serve in law enforcement, and always one-third to one-half of the room raise their hands," Stanek said. "Law enforcement is a good solid profession. I know that people, particularly these delegates and Republicans, love law enforcement." But as the most recent candidate to join the race, Stanek is struggling to catch up in support and endorsements that others have built over months or nearly a year campaigning. A recent serious car accident sidelined him from in-person campaign activities just weeks before the state convention.

Forum News service has more on the endorsement and its value : But the endorsement is no guarantee of success. Neither the current governor, Tim Walz, nor current attorney general, Keith Ellison, received the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party convention endorsement in 2018. Over the past 30 years, the endorsement has not been a reliable indicator of who will end up with a “DFL” or “R” next to their name in November, said Hamline University political science professor David Schultz. So why does it matter? Schultz says there are a few ways the endorsement gives candidates a boost. “One of them would be if you’re facing a primary challenge, if you have an endorsement the party can commit resources to help you defend your endorsement and defend against challengers,” he explained. “The second thing you would presume is to think that having the endorsement would chase away challengers within your own party.” But that doesn’t always play out in the party-preferred candidate’s favor. “It’s somewhere between less than 50% and the coin toss,” Schultz said. “At the end of the day, the party’s nomination just doesn’t seem to be as important as it should be in theory.”

MinnPost has a look at another county sheriff, Ramsey County’s Bob Fletcher, who seems to be cruising to reelection:   There’s still time — less than a month — for candidates to file for the race. But no one of note has filed so far and it doesn’t look like anyone with serious resources or name recognition is going to show up. It would be an uphill battle; challenging incumbents often is. But Fletcher is also a controversial figure who is finishing up a term in which he regularly grabbed headlines for pointed disagreements with other government officials, and for making waves for his Facebook Live show, “Live on Patrol,” in which he livestreams himself driving around and offering commentary while on duty.